Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I second everything said about Animorphs. I lived in those books in elementary school, but could never find the last four or so. Someone told me the ending a few years later and I almost cried with frustration.

Achem.

Siddartha. I'm a huge Hermann Hesse fan but that book was so incredibly anti-climactic (which I suppose is sort of the point) I completely lost interest as to whether or not the Om was reached.
Steppenwolf on the other hand...<3

Anna Karenina Excellent book, hated the ending. Not the bit that happens at the train station, but how he never tied it up and how the last fifty pages was just a whole lot of philosophical ramblings. Loved the rest of the book but

JustineDell wrote: This is why I read romance, I know there's going to be some type of happy ending. Even in supsense, even in paranormal. They get the good guy, the guy gets the girl, everyone goes home happy.

I thought that too…before I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth. It honestly just depressed me. I spent the entire book really rooting for the characters and into the story but when I flipped the last page I found myself staring at the back of the book.
I completely understand when a book doesn’t have a picture perfect ending but I hate when I feel depressed after reading a book.

bronwyn1 wrote:The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The beginning was picture perfect to me (now when I think about it, those first few chapters might have had the whole 'workshopped-to-death-by-the-critique-group syndrome but nevertheless, they were excellent and drew me in immediately) but by the middle it began to drag and then when the end came along...wow, very disappointing (all I can say since I don't want to spoil it for anyone).

Me too! I got the feeling the ending was tacked on as an afterthought, perhaps to placate her publisher who wanted some form of resolution.

I have to agree with The Lovely Bones. In fact I couldn't even finish it, even though I found the writing hypnotic.

Another good book was The Adoration of Jenna Fox (I am reading a lot of YA 'cause that is what I am writing). That story had so much potential, I thoroughly enjoyed the building tension, but I felt the ending was just too easy, or something. It seemed a couple of times the author was setting up a gripping 'big bang' ending, only to have a nice and quiet 'happy ending'. Don't get me wrong, I love happy endings, but I don't like 'the-easy-way-out endings'.

I actually liked the way The Lovely Bones ended. It's very realistic, with none of the fanciful the-rapist-got-caught idea.

But I definitely agree about the Animorphs. It was the first series I finished, and I gave up sci-fi after that. I felt so bad the the kid-turned-hawk.

Not a bad ending, but it was a very annoying ending: Gone With the Wind. I remember reading it and feeling like there must be a sequal... and then there wasn't =(

I love me some Neal Stephenson, but I thought the endings of both 'Snow Crash' and 'Cryptonomicon' didn't quite live up to the rest of the book.

I loved the Harry Potter series but the last book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was so bad that it almost ruined the series for me. It had a terrible ending. So very cliche.

adamg73 wrote:I loved the Harry Potter series but the last book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was so bad that it almost ruined the series for me. It had a terrible ending. So very cliche.

I didn't mind the deathly hallows. Granted the beginning was slow. But what was really terrible was the epilogue. I think it was an epilogue, I don't have the book handy. Anyway the last part of the book. I actually thought as I was reading it that it must have been Rowling's attempt to stem the flow of fan fiction, like Here! This is what happens! Forever! The end! That being said, I found it detracted from the real ending (which I rather liked).

JustineDell wrote:
I think Dean Koontz is missing some marbles. Actually, no - I take that back. The man's a genius, there are no other words to describe it. But when I got to the end, I was like WHOA! Roll the tape back, back the rig up, rewind a scene or two and explain to me what in the name of Odd happened here? Dean Koontz killed off a main character. Not just a main character (I would called Stormy a main character), she is also Odd's "soul mate". He loves her. They are one in the same. Dean talks about their relationship the entire time. And then she dies!!! Sorry for the spoiler if no one has read this yet. But, I had to rant somewhere ;-)


~JD

I LOOOVED that ending. I'm a fan of Koontz's style, in general. But there was something especially beautiful about Odd losing the love of his life because he is such an innocent soul. That loss shows his strength and resilience. It makes him more sympathetic and pitiable and my heart roots for him even more because he has to be strong for everyone else.

Also, I haven't read the next book yet but, given Odd's special abilities, I think Stormy will be in the subsequent books, in some form.

adamg73 wrote:I loved the Harry Potter series but the last book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was so bad that it almost ruined the series for me. It had a terrible ending. So very cliche.

Yeah, I got disappointed by Harry Potter's ending too - and not just the epilogue, which I could've easily brushed aside if it was the only problem. It's not just the cliche (I mean, it'd have been hard not to know beforehand that LOVE was going to play a part in the final struggle; it's there right from the start of the series). There were simply too many random or sudden things happening in the span of a few chapters for me to cope. Characters present through the entire series died within a line, characters that had never seemed so important played a MAJOR role, etc. Had a few other qualms, but they were more a personal preference, so I'll keep them out.

And I had another novel in mind before starting this, but now I can't remember. Darn.

JD - I know what you mean about poor Odd. The other books are worth it though. Not that they don't break your heart, too -- he tortures the poor guy. But there's something about watching him make his way through all the garbage, and still remain somewhat pure, that gets you. Just don't think you'll hate Koontz any less when you get through them.

Then again, Koontz has been getting me like that since way back. What was the one he wrote about the little boy who might or might not be the devil's spawn? Can't remember the name. But really, he's been messing with his characters, and with our heads, since the start. :-)

As for good book, bad ending, the one that probably got me the most was the end of the Dark Tower series. It was a perfect ending, I admit, so maybe it wasn't "bad," but man....I wanted to slap Stephen King silly when he did that to me. I'd started reading the series when the first book came out, and invested DECADES in it, and he did that to me? Argh. But genius, nonetheless.

Bad bad ending? Twilight. The whole last book was....um. That book also holds the prize for dumbest character name ever, IMO.

I definitely agree. And I know people liked the whole 'political' wrap up but I was disappointed. The whole saga built up this massive confrontation and then... nothing. I haven't re-read.

I felt that way about the final episode of LOST. I was robbed of my epic battle I wanted to see the smoke monster taken out in an epic way but it came down to a silly fist fight.

My big disappointment was the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. I absolutely loved the first book - it's still one of my all-time favorite novels ever - so I was thrilled at the eleven (I think) sequels. At first they were good, then they were okay...the last three were really rough to get through, and at the end I felt so unsatisfied. The big bad evil guy just drops dead (yeah, I know what Terry Goodkind was going for, but it really didn't do it for me) and then hey, we're here, this is how we're going on, and that's that. Just bang, bad guys gone, happy life ensues. But we don't get a sense of anything other than "we continue on and life is so much better." I just wanted more than that.